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Bermuda private guide

fancycroozer

By fancycroozer,
in Bermuda

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stellarose

stellarose

Posted
Posted
If you disembark your ship early there are usually a large number of drivers waiting for potential customers lined up near the pier. Try looking for one with a "blue flag" on the bonnet (hood). They're certified tour guides.

 

Dennis Hollis?

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njhorseman

njhorseman

Posted
Posted
Someone posted that they needed a taxi driver. We found his name on the board and will be using him later this summer

 

OK...you quoted one of my posts as if you were asking me a question or answering a question I had. That's why I didn't understand it.

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Kelli67

Kelli67

Posted
Posted

We just returned from our trip aboard NCL Dawn. We booked Colin Jennings in advance and he did charge us $60/hour. I know what the government rates are and I did a lot of reading on this subject. I heard nothing but good stuff from people about Colin.

 

We originally booked a bus tour of the Island through NCL and that tour was $94/per person. After doing my research we decided to cancel that tour and book Colin. There were 5 of us so, $60/hour for 5 hours was $60/pp, which is $34/pp cheaper with Colin then the bus.

 

It was THE BEST DECISION WE MADE!!! Colin was incredible... He took us to every nook and cranny of the island that we never ever would have seen on a bus. We had our list of "Must Sees" and we went to every single one of them plus a million other sites. We went to sea glass beach, and stayed about a 1/2 hour... we all collected our glass and Colin even collected a huge bag for us to bring home (by the way, there was no problem bringing the glass onto the ship) we stopped at many beaches, many forts, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse and we climbed to the top, he brought all of us little nip bottles so that we could collect our own personal "Pink Sand" (again no problem getting it on the ship). We stopped at the littlest draw bridge and he took our picture (he did that at many stops) He narrated the entire trip and we learned sooooo much about the island. I can't even begin to list all the different stops we made (ones that included stopping at "private residences" to take pictures of landscapes they had in their yards). It literally was the highlight of our vacation, we will never forget it and we have glass and sand as souvenir's that we collected on our own and didn't have to pay $4-$7 for.

 

He does charge extra for booking in advance but it was so worth the $4.50, and we still saved money even after tipping him. Had we booked the bus tour we wouldn't have seen 1/2 of what he showed us.

 

I would use him again in a heartbeat.

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guidance lady

guidance lady

Posted
Posted

Kelli,

Thanks for your review, I have been wondering if we needed a guide in Aug. It seems that you got your money's worth. I love reading recommendations from people that have just cruised. Did you have beach time other than collecting the glass?

Nel

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Kelli67

Kelli67

Posted
Posted

We didn't have much beach time, we stopped at one of the beaches to collect some pink sand and we put our feet in the water for a little while (It was FREEEZING) LOL

 

If you wanted to stay at the beach longer, you just have to tell him that. He will plan accordingly.

 

I emailed Colin, it did take him a while to get back to me, about a week, but he will. That was the only negative I can say about him... But of course, I am a very impatient person. :D He emailed me back and gave me his cell phone number in case I needed to get ahold of him quickly.

 

(A cute little story) when he emailed me back he told me he would be at the pier at 9:30 am and to look for him, he would have a sign with my name on it. I jokingly wrote back and said "I have always wanted to walk out of an airport or somewhere and see one of the limo drivers holding a sign with my name on it, so I can't wait to see that", I said "My only problem is... what do I want the sign to read? Princess Kelli, Queen Kelli, your majesty Kelli" LOL Well, when we found him he had a sign that said "Princess Kelli"... I loved it!!! I even brought the sign home for a souvenir!!! LOL

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guidance lady

guidance lady

Posted
Posted (edited)

Flying Medic66,

We have 1138 for Aug 4. I just happened to be looking at available cabins and I saw it. There were 4 AQ Afts in a row available. They hadn't been when I first booked a month or so ago. Weird! I wonder what happened?

I would appreciate it if after your cruise (if you happen to check this thread) you can let me know how it was I've never been aft. It looks like a bigger balcony too. I would also like to know about the tour guide and where he took you. Thanks so much

Nely

Edited by guidance lady
forgot to address poster it is intended for
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Kelli67

Kelli67

Posted
Posted (edited)
Flying Medic66,

We have 1138 for Aug 4. I just happened to be looking at available cabins and I saw it. There were 4 AQ Afts in a row available. They hadn't been when I first booked a month or so ago. Weird! I wonder what happened?

I would appreciate it if after your cruise (if you happen to check this thread) you can let me know how it was I've never been aft. It looks like a bigger balcony too. I would also like to know about the tour guide and where he took you. Thanks so much

Nely

 

As far as the Tour Guide... well, hopefully I can remember at least a 1/4 of what we actually saw....

 

*Seaglass Beach

*Gibbs Hill Lighthouse

*Fort St. Catherine

*The unfinished Church

*Smallest Drawbridge

*Horseshoe Bay Beach

*Fort Scaur

*drove by (and even stopped in front of the gate) of Harrison Fords House

*Hamilton, Flatts Village, Somerset Village, St. George..... We walked around and shopped in St. George for about 30-45 min.

*Church Bay Beach

*Aquarium (We didn't go in but he showed us the outdoor Turtle tank)

*Harrington Sound - we walked from one side of the road to the other underneath the bridge

 

There were many many other places we drove by and/or stopped and got out to take pictures of. Beaches, resorts, towns, etc. etc.

 

I really wish camera's had a function where, when you took a picture it printed where it was taken on the picture so I could remember where half my pictures were from. LOL

 

He would have stopped and let us do the caves but we had already done them the day before, which I was glad because that would have taken up a good 2 hours of our tour. So I don't recommend doing the caves while on your tour. You'll see a lot more of the island if you don't do them.

 

You can customize your tour however you want. If you stop at more spots you won't see as much, Like we drove by the Swizzle Inn but didn't stop for a drink, and drove by the unfinished Church but just took pictures from the car when he stopped briefly. Others we noticed actually walked around it, etc. If there was somewhere we really wanted to stop and see we just told him.

 

And like I had mentioned in a previous post, he narrated the whole time, told us all about Bermuda and every single spot we stopped at and/or drove by.

 

Hope this helps.

Kelli

Edited by Kelli67
spelling error
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Just the two of us

Just the two of us

Posted
Posted

We just got home from Bermuda. We booked Timmie Mello recommended

by Mr. Fox. We had a wonderful day. We were able to see everything we

wanted plus more. Timmie even brought bread to feed the fish at the smallest drawbridge in Bermuda. He arranged for us to be on time to see

the dunking in St. Geroge, not to be missed. Our day was perfect. Our

tour was for six hours and the time flew by. Timmie also got us some

pink sand in a plastic bag which I now have in a vase in my home a lovely

reminder of Bermuda. He charged $40 per hour. His email is soniamello@logic.bm. If you contact him he will arrange to see everything that you desire. He is a lovely person and if you book with him I am sure

you will enjoy as we did.

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GrHaskett

GrHaskett

Posted
Posted

We hired Lewis Foggo on our first day in Bermuda (May 22, 2013) on NCL Breakaway. He is fantastic! We were a party of 6 including 2 seniors. He was very good with my parents and accomodated their needs. They LOVED him! His van was clean and large enough for all of us. He was very knowledgeable about all things Bermuda and took us to places that others did not get to see. We enjoyed it so much that we hired him again for our 3rd and last day in Bermuda. This was Bermuda Day and we heard some places would be closed. We wanted to do the caves, see another pink beach, and have another Dark & Stormy. He brought us to the most beautiful places and ended with the day at a very local bar (not touristy at all) for a great Dark & Stormy with the owner of the bar (Woody's). The basic tour with a private taxi is $55 per person for 5 hours. We had Lewis for over 7 hours the first day and at least 6 on the 2nd day. We tipped him well and would hire him again in a hearbeat. You can contact Lewis at lewis_foggo@hotmail.com or call him at 441-704-2109. Also, he seemed to know everyone on the entire island and he was their best friend. Really added to a great experience.

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Berzle986

Berzle986

Posted
Posted
this is for flyingmedic66 how was the tour with mr.fox?? any comments about the tour?

 

Hi. We had a tour with David Fox last week while in Bermuda. Great guy!!! Very very knowledgeable. He was waiting for us at 9am right outside the ship with our name on a sign. He's very accomodating to all of your needs. We let him do his thing though as we wanted to see as much as we could. St. George was our favorite as you get to see the woman get dunked at noon. We had time to shop, eat lunch(he was so nice we invited him to eat lunch with us, our treat.),stopped quite often for photos to. He was the best and I highly reccomend him.:D

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dpomes

dpomes

Posted
Posted
Hi. We had a tour with David Fox last week while in Bermuda. Great guy!!! Very very knowledgeable. He was waiting for us at 9am right outside the ship with our name on a sign. He's very accomodating to all of your needs. We let him do his thing though as we wanted to see as much as we could. St. George was our favorite as you get to see the woman get dunked at noon. We had time to shop, eat lunch(he was so nice we invited him to eat lunch with us, our treat.),stopped quite often for photos to. He was the best and I highly reccomend him.:D

 

We have him booked for our June 30th cruise. So happy to hear that you were pleased with his tour! We can't wait! :D

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KrazyKs

KrazyKs

Posted
Posted
Hi. We had a tour with David Fox last week while in Bermuda. Great guy!!! Very very knowledgeable. He was waiting for us at 9am right outside the ship with our name on a sign. He's very accomodating to all of your needs. We let him do his thing though as we wanted to see as much as we could. St. George was our favorite as you get to see the woman get dunked at noon. We had time to shop, eat lunch(he was so nice we invited him to eat lunch with us, our treat.),stopped quite often for photos to. He was the best and I highly reccomend him.:D

 

 

Thanks for the review. We have him booked for July 4th and I am really looking forward to it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
jaz0308

jaz0308

Posted
Posted
Thank you, thank you, Bucket List, for your list of taxi drivers and their emails. It is so helpful. Please report back to us when you come back. It is so nice when cruisers are willing to share the good and the not so good.

N

 

 

could you possibly quote this? I would love to see it but can't seem to find it in this long thread! thank you!

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guidance lady

guidance lady

Posted
Posted
could you possibly quote this? I would love to see it but can't seem to find it in this long thread! thank you!

 

I can't find it either, or bucket list for that matter. A couple of posters got a bit nasty about who was better and I guess it all got deleted by the powers that be. I think if you go into the Bermuda tourist website they have a list of "taxi drivers" that is where bucket list got it I think. The reason a poster got irritable was because bucket list had not used all of them. I just thought it a good list for us to have. Also there is someone charging a bit more and someone else took exception. He is a popular guide, thats when the name calling began.

I have booked Mr. Dennis Hollis who gets good press here. He has been good about communicating with us, and is very polite. He charges the going rate. I'll let you all know after Aug 11.

Sorry to not be of more help. I wish some posters weren't so prickly, and got along better. This is such a unique way to exchange helpful information.:) I love cruise critic forums and usually have friends by the time we sail.

Nel

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